Mike, My experience with urethanes in Arizona is that, the first line paints seem to be good for 10-20 years minimum, but if you use the second level paints, and the car has constant sun, it will start dying in as little as 5 years.


I had an interesting experience in the last couple years, regarding old lacquer jobs:

An 88 Vette that I did graphics on, as a new car, showed up at a Corvette event. It still looked fresh after 17 years.

Just before that, a lead sled '56 Chevy truck, that I painted in '87, showed up in Truckin' Magazine, for the second time. (It was on the cover the first time) It also looked really fresh. I even called the photographer, Don Emmons, to see if the photo was recent. It was.

Both of them were done at a time that I was using lacquer, and adding a small amount of flex agent to the paint, in an attempt to make it live longer. I guess it worked. Flex agent, as you may know, is a cross-linker, like the hardener in urethane paints. It must have contributed to the unexpected durability of the lacquer.